Hydroxytyrosol, as a component of olive mill waste water, is dose- dependently absorbed and increases the antioxidant capacity of rat plasma.

Hydroxytyrosol is the most potent phenolic antioxidant of olive oil and olive mill waste water (OMWW) and its biological activities have stimulated research on its potential role in cardiovascular protection. However, evidence of the absorption of OMWW phenolics and on their possible in vivo activity has, until now, never been provided. Three groups male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered 1, 5, or 10 mg/Kg of the OMWW extract, respectively, providing 41.

Usefulness of Bayesian graphical models for early prediction of disease progression in multiple sclerosis.

Previous studies of possible prognostic indicators for multiple sclerosis have been based on "classic" Cox's proportional hazards regression model, as well as on equivalent or simpler approaches, restricting their attention to variables measured either at disease onset or at a few points during follow-up. The aim of our study was to analyse the risk of reaching secondary progression in MS patients with a relapsing-remitting initial course, using two different statistical approaches: a Cox's proportional-hazards model and a Bayesian latent-variable model with Markov chain Monte Carlo methods of computation. In comparison with a standard statistical approach, our model is advantageous because, exploiting all the information gleaned from the patient as it is gradually made available, it is capable to detect even small prognostic effects.

Photochromic behavior of 2,2-spiro-adamantylidene-2H-naphtho.

The photokinetic behavior of a photochromic compound, 2,2-spiro-adamantylidene-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran (Py), has been investigated by using monochromatic irradiation in the UV and visible ranges. An unusually complex photochemistry occurs whereby two colored forms (o-quinone-allides) are produced, one of which is thermoreversible whereas the other is not thermoreversible but photoreversible. These are the result of ring opening of the pyran C-O bond to a short lived open-form intermediate which converts to the two different colored forms by twisting around different C-C bonds.

In-vitro antioxidant and in-vivo photoprotective effect of three lyophilized extracts of Sedum telephium L. leaves.

Sedum telephium L. is a medicinal plant used in antiquity to cure many types of inflammatory skin diseases. The leaves (without the external cuticle), are used to promote healing and reduce skin inflammation and pain, and contain various components.

Activation of Na(+)- and Ca(2+)-dependent Mg(2+) extrusion by alpha(1)- and beta-adrenergic agonists in rat liver cells.

The administration of selective alpha(1) (phenylephrine)-, beta (isoproterenol)-, or mixed (epinephrine) adrenergic agonists induces a marked Mg(2+) extrusion from perfused rat livers. In the absence of extracellular Ca(2+), phenylephrine does not induce a detectable Mg(2+) extrusion, isoproterenol-induced Mg(2+) mobilization is unaffected, and epinephrine induces a net Mg(2+) extrusion that is lower than in the presence of extracellular Ca(2+) and quantitatively similar to that elicited by isoproterenol. In the absence of extracellular Na(+), no Mg(2+) is extruded from the liver irrespective of the agonist used.

Flavonoids accumulate in leaves and glandular trichomes of Phillyrea latifolia exposed to excess solar radiation.

Experiments were conducted on Phillyrea latifolia plants grown under a dense overstorey of Pinus pinea (shade plants) or on seashore dunes (sun plants) in a coastal area of Tuscany (42° 46' N, 10° 53' E). Total integrated photon flux densities averaged 1.67 and 61.

HPLC analysis of flavonoids and secoiridoids in leaves of Ligustrum vulgare L. (Oleaceae).

Identification and quantification of flavonol glycosides and secoiridoids was carried out on leaves of Ligustrum vulgare L. (Oleaceae) by means of HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS analysis. In addition to previously reported secoiridoids (oleuropein, ligustaloside A, ligustaloside B, and ligstroside) four kaempferol glycosides (kaempferol 3-O-glucoside 7-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3, 7-O-dirhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-rhamnoside, and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside) and two quercetin glycosides (quercetin 3-O-glucoside 7-O-rhamnoside and quercetin 3,7-O-dirhamnoside) were present in leaves of L.

Influence of algal biomass on extracellular enzyme activity in river biofilms.

Relationships between biofilm structural components (algal and bacterial biomass) and the activities of some extracellular enzymes that contribute to the ability to degrade organic matter) were explored for six Atlantic and three Mediterranean streams and rivers. The biofilms in these fluvial systems accounted for a wide range of bacterial and algal biomass and colonized the most common benthic habitats. Ratio of bacteria/algae biomass was lower in Atlantic than in Mediterranean streams, but enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, phosphatase) were in general greater in the Mediterranean stream biofilms.

Circadian and hypothermia-induced effects on visual and auditory evoked potentials in multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: Body cooling has been proposed as a symptomatic treatment for multiple sclerosis. This study aimed to assess the effects of body cooling and of circadian variations on clinical parameters and on visual and auditory evoked potential measures in multiple sclerosis patients.

Methods: Clinical status was assessed and VEPs, BAEPs and MLAEPs (all with two stimulus frequencies) were recorded a total of 4 times on two separate days (two times per day at 08:30 and 15:00 h each day) in 10 multiple sclerosis patients and 10 controls.

Regulation of cellular magnesium.

The abundance of magnesium (Mg2+) within mammalian cells is consistent with its relevant role in regulating tissue and cell functions. At the last count, more than three hundred and fifty enzymes, aside from metabolic cycles, appear to require and be regulated by concentrations of Mg2+ that are well within the physiological range observed in tissues and cells. The absence of detectable major changes in cellular free [Mg2+], and the extremely slow turn-over of the cation across the cell plasma membrane under quiescent condition has supported for more than three decades the assumption that cellular Mg2+ content is kept constant at the level necessary for enzyme and channel function, and that its concentration does not require drastic and rapid changes to form complex with ATP and other phosphonucleotides.

Periodic alternating nystagmus and vestibulo-spinal system facilitating activity.

Objective: Periodic alternating nystagmus has been associated with the instability of the velocity storage mechanism, which is known to play an important role in both the vestibulo-oculomotor and the optokinetic systems. In the present study we looked for a possible spinal equivalent to PAN.

Methods And Results: In 3 PAN patients, the H-reflex amplitude proved to be slightly but significantly influenced by nystagmus direction, in that it was greater when the nystagmus was beating toward the stimulation side.

Sedum telephium L. polysaccharide content affects MRC5 cell adhesion to laminin and fibronectin.

In traditional medicine the fresh leaves and juice of Sedum telephium L. are used as wound-healing promoters. Cell adhesion represents a primary event in wound repair and in tissue homeostasis, and therefore we have investigated the effect of Sedum juice and its main fractions, polysaccharides and flavonols, on human fibroblast (MRC5) adhesion to fibronectin and laminin.

Comparison among differential pulse voltammetry, amperometric biosensor, and HPLC/DAD analysis for polyphenol determination.

Polyphenols are widespread in vegetables and fruits. They can play an important role in human diet and health, and they influence the sensorial properties of many foods, and act as natural antioxidants. This study was conducted using HPLC/DAD, tyrosinase biosensor, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) analyses to detect polyphenolic compounds in natural complex matrices.

Parallel stimulation of glucose and Mg(2+) accumulation by insulin in rat hearts and cardiac ventricular myocytes.

The stimulation of beta-adrenoceptors in cardiac cells results in a rapid loss of cellular Mg(2+). Because insulin physiologically counteracts several of the cellular effects mediated by the activation of beta-adrenoceptors and the elevation of cytosolic cAMP levels, we investigated whether insulin administration could prevent Mg(2+) mobilization from rat hearts and ventricular myocytes. Rat hearts were perfused in a retrograde Langendorff system, and the changes in extracellular Mg(2+) were measured by atomic absorbance spectrophotometry.

Relationship between total and free cellular Mg(2+) during metabolic stimulation of rat cardiac myocytes and perfused hearts.

The changes in total Mg were compared with changes in cytosolic free Mg(2+) during metabolic stimulation of collagenase-dispersed rat cardiac myocytes or Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. In myocytes the addition of agents leading to cAMP increase or protein kinase C activation results in a loss or gain of more than 5% of total Mg content within 3 min (i.e.

Differential localization and operation of distinct Mg(2+) transporters in apical and basolateral sides of rat liver plasma membrane.

Upon activation of specific cell signaling, hepatocytes rapidly accumulate or release an amount of Mg(2+) equivalent to 10% of their total Mg(2+) content. Although it is widely accepted that Mg(2+) efflux is Na(+)-dependent, little is known about transporter identity and the overall regulation. Even less is known about the mechanism of cellular Mg(2+) uptake.

Antioxidant and other biological activities of olive mill waste waters.

During olive oil production, large volumes of water are generated and subsequently discarded. Olives contain a variety of bioactive components, and some of them, according to their partition coefficients, end up in the water phase. The current investigation aimed at comparing different methods for the extraction of biologically active components of the olive mill waste waters (OMWW) and evaluating the in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the resulting extracts.

Polyphenolic content in five tuscany cultivars of Olea europaea L.

In this study polyphenolic compounds extracted from olive fruits of five registered cultivars were analyzed. A solid-liquid extraction (LSE) procedure with Extrelut cartridge (diatomaceous earth) using different eluents was developed to obtain polyphenolic compounds. HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS methods were applied for the quali-quantitative analysis of each fraction obtained from LSE.

Blood coagulation parameters in retinal arterial occlusion.

Background: Thromboembolism is considered a crucial event in the pathogenesis of retinal occlusion, resulting in a severe damage of central or peripheral visual function.

Methods: We evaluated hemostatic system parameters in the plasma of 14 patients (11 males and 3 females aged 59-73 years) affected by acute retinal ischemia (central retinal arterial occlusion or arterial branch occlusion). The diagnosis of retinal arterial occlusion was established according to clinical symptoms, ophthalmoscopic findings and fluorescein angiography.

Edge detection and surface 'filling in' as shown by texture visual evoked potentials.

Objectives: We designed a stimulation paradigm that was designed to ascertain whether specific components of the texture visual evoked potentials were attributable to edge detection or to surface 'filling-in' processes.

Methods: The stimuli were textures of parallel line elements, which were either uniform (all horizontal or vertical lines) or segregated (checkerboards in which texture line elements of neighbor checks were oriented orthogonally). A sequence of 4 stimuli, two uniform followed by two segregated stimuli, was repeated cyclically.

Superselective intraarterial fibrinolysis in central retinal artery occlusion.

Intraarterial fibrinolysis was performed in three patients with acute central retinal artery occlusion using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator as a fibrinolytic agent. In two cases the ophthalmic artery was selectively catheterized, and in the other a thrombolytic drug was infused into the ophthalmic artery by way of the meningeal collaterals. All patients experienced visual improvement.

Amodal completion in texture visual evoked potentials.

Amodal completion refers to the phenomenological finding of perceiving partly occluded objects as continuing uninterrupted behind an occluder. The outlying problem is how the visual system processes such non-local stimuli because the known processes of early vision are spatially restricted operations which segregate local differences in the visual image, and little is known about their interactions in producing the segmentation of the image into functionally coherent, or global, objects. We recorded human visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to texture stimuli and addressed local/non-local relationships in comparing a condition in which local edges were present, due to texture segregation, with a condition in which, in addition to local edges, textures appeared to continue as surfaces behind gray stripes due to non-local amodal completion.

Changes in magnesium content and subcellular distribution during retinoic acid-induced differentiation of HL60 cells.

Magnesium (Mg) is required for cellular proliferation; however, the differences in subcellular regulation of Mg between proliferating and differentiated cells has not been determined. We used electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) to investigate the subcellular distribution of Mg in HL60 cells (a promyelocytic leukemia cell line) before and after retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiation. Most intracellular Mg is bound to ATP and the Mg-ATP complex regulates several metabolic enzymes.

Expression of human CD44v6 in non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: The CD44 is a membrane glycoprotein that functions as lymph node homing receptor in lymphocyte activation and is involved in homo- and heterotypic cell adhesion. In several tumor cell lines the expression of splice variants (CD44v6 and CD44v7) are correlated with the metastatic potential and confer an advantage in the early steps of the metastatic cascade. In our study we examined 35 cases of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) in order to detect the presence of CD44v6 and to compare its expression with the histologic type, degree of differentiation, stage of the tumor and survival of the patients.